Marital or other relationship between the perpetrator (अपराधकर्ता; someone who has committed a crime or a harmful act), victim cannot be a rape defence
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A relationship between two individuals, including marriage, is built around love, respect, trust and consent (स्वीकृति/सहमति; to agree or to allow someone to do something). Within that civilised framework (सभ्य ढ़ाँचा; a well developed system of government where people live fairly), a violent and exploitative act (शोषणकारी कार्य; using someone unfairly for your own advantage) like rape has no place.
Seen in that context, the Supreme Court’s latest query to a Maharashtra government employee asking whether he would marry a girl he was accused of raping repeatedly while she was a minor is insensitive (असंवेदनशील; not feeling or showing sympathy for other people's feelings) to the core (सब से महत्वपूर्ण भाग; most important or most basic).
By offering marriage as a solution to a rape victim, the judiciary failed to protect the rights of a girl. Instead of meting out harsh punishment, the Court asked the lawyer representing the accused to find out whether his client would be willing to marry the victim or risk going to jail.
Equal rights activists have always worked hard against misogyny (स्त्री द्वेष; a man who hates women or believes that men are much better than women), patriarchal (पितृप्रधान; ruled or controlled by men) mindsets (मानसिकता; a person's way of thinking) and other failings such as blaming the victim for rape. This arduous battle (कठिन लड़ाई; needing a lot of effort to achieve something) for equality becomes even more difficult when people in high offices make offensive remarks.On Monday, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sharad A. Bobde, told the lawyer of the rape accused, “We are not forcing you….” The lawyer later told the Court that his client refused to marry the girl because he was already married. In his petition, the accused recounted (बयान करना; to describe how something happened) the allegations (आरोप; a statement, made without giving proof, that someone has done something wrong or illegal) that he sexually abused the girl since she was in high school, and also that he had threatened the minor.
In another case, the Bench stayed the arrest of a man accused of rape after falsely promising marriage. The victim said she was promised marriage and was “brutally (बेरहमी से; completely without feeling) and sexually abused”. The CJI asked the girl’s lawyer: “When two people are living as husband and wife, however brutal the husband is, can you call sexual intercourse between them ‘rape’?” In both cases, these crimes attract severe penalties (गंभीर दंड; very serious a punishment) under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.On marital rape, though the recommendation was not included in the Act, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee was clear the law ought to specify that a marital or another relationship between the perpetrator and victim cannot be a defence against sexual violation.
Citing the judgment of the European Commission of Human Rights in C.R. vs U.K., it endorsed (समर्थन करना; to make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone) the conclusion that “a rapist remains a rapist regardless of his relationship with the victim”. In Shimbhu & Anr vs State of Haryana (2013), the Supreme Court said the offer of a rapist to marry the victim cannot be used to reduce the sentence prescribed by law.When the scars (निशान; a sign of damage) of the Nirbhaya case are still raw (पीड़ादायक; sore or painful), and a series of rape and murders are being reported against minors, especially Dalits, in Uttar Pradesh, the judiciary’s shocking remarks echo (दोहराना; to express what someone else has said) a deep-set prejudice (गहरे पूर्वाग्रह; a deep and an unreasonable opinion without enough thought or knowledge) against gender equality.
The law should deliver justice, not blatantly tilt the scales (न्याय की तराजू को झुका देना; to move scales in a way that is very obvious and intentional) against women’s rights.
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